Sanjeev “Sonny†Bhagowalia, one of the General Services Administration’s top cloud-computing and technology gurus, will leave the federal government to serve as chief information officer in the state of Hawaii.
The CIO position was created earlier this spring along with the newly created Office of Information Management and Technology — part of larger efforts to “transform†the state’s IT systems.
“I’m humbled by the opportunity to be part of such a critical effort for the great state of Hawaii,†Bhagowalia said. “I look forward to collaborating with the many people who are already working hard to improve public services and create a more efficient government.â€
As the deputy associate administrator of GSA’s Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies, Bhagowalia has been the agency’s point man for implementing some of the federal government’s big-ticket IT projects — Data.gov, cloud computing and data center consolidation.
The new state technology office has begun an assessment intended to provide an overview of technology across the state before Bhagowalia takes over July 6. The office has selected government-contracting giant SAIC (NYSE: SAI) to lead the assessment, which Bhagowalia will use to complete a tech roadmap for the state.
Meanwhile, Federal News Radio reports that Bhagowalia’s colleague Bajinder Paul likely will replace Bhagowali at GSA at least on an interim basis. Paul is also a deputy associate administrator in the Citizen Services and Innovative Technology office.
